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The Gro-Clock For Children’s Sleep Training

Long before the clock was invented, us humans used to wake when the sun came up, and sleep when it went dark. Well, this simple concept has been digitised into a neat little package, namely the Gro-Clock by The Gro Company.

The following outlines our experience with the Gro-Clock. This is as unbiased a review as is possible, and we hope you find it useful in the quest for a peaceful night’s sleep.

Durability

At a price point of £20, it’s pretty solid and reliable, and child-friendly in that there are no sharp edges. It’s actually very pleasing to look at, so there is no fear of having an unpleasant time-piece ruining the ambience of your toddlers room. It’s powered by a simple wall socket plug so there’s no worrying about batteries running out. Just remember to keep the cable hidden from site.

Setting it up

It’s pretty simple to get set up as it only has 3 buttons, and the instructions are comprehensive enough, referencing the icons you see on the actual clock appropriately in the text.

A great first-time tip is to set the clock to wake at the time your toddler normally rises. Then once they have got used to it you can increase the wake-up time thereafter in 10 – 15 minutes increments. Once set, the friendly characterised stars slowly disappear as night turns into morning, and you can have some fun explaining this with your toddler, so if they wake in the night they will get a sense of not being alone.

You do have to reset it to the correct time if ever unplugged which is easy enough, but the other settings are saved, so there is no need to constantly set those up.

There are two independent ‘waking up’ modes, one for night time sleep, and the other for day time naps. Both have their own set up instructions so follow the instruction carefully. Note that you only set the wake up times for each.

There’s a cool reward chart that you can download here giving further advice and make your child more likely to engage sooner rather than later.

Remember to, never to let your child see you set the clock, or you could well scupper your chances of success. Buttons are very inviting to a child…

Summary

So there you have it. In short, the Gro-Clock is a brilliant bit of kit to help train your little one to get the right amount of sleep, and also give you parents a little more solitude and control over nap and bed time. The key of course is consistency as would be expected with anything new. We found that after a few nights it started to pay off. Sleepy time when blue and wake-up time when yellow. Simple.

It also comes packaged with a lovely bedtime story by Sleepy Farm (by Rob Holmes and Ourrielle Holmes, illustrated by Michael Terry) that you and you little one can end the day with. This is also available to buy here separately should you’re become ‘well thumbed’.